“I did [try to reach out], yeah,” she told Billboard in a new interview. “I don’t want to get into the details of that because it was really intense and it’s hard for me to talk about. It makes me sad.”

But no matter how sad she may feel about the fallout, Cabello was ready to tell her own story. “I was always super open [that] I couldn’t just sing other people’s words and be totally happy with that,” she said. “I always encouraged the girls to do the same. We didn’t write our records. We were interpreting somebody else’s story. Fifth Harmony is an entity or identity outside all of us, and I don’t think anybody felt individually represented by the sound — we didn’t make it.” Besides lacking control over Fifth Harmony’s music, Cabello took issue with the way she was sexualized.

Cabello added, “The easiest route would be to shut my mouth, sing the songs, wear the clothes and keep going, you know? I mean, [we were] at the peak of our career. It’s definitely not the safe option.”

Before Cabello had a chance to announce she would be leaving the group, Fifth Harmony pre-empted her and tweeted the news to fans. Cabello later said she was “shocked” to read their statement, which was issued without her knowledge.